The Bible Unearthed - Exodus

Hi Orion,I know this is slightly off-topic, but what do you make of Bill Dever?Joel

Well, Dever is something of a maximalist, and the most well-known of the maximalist camp. As far as I can tell, Finkelstein and Silberman are somewhere in the middle (and to be differentiated from the minimalists). I was just wondering what you make of them, since you're familiar with archaeology (my question extends to Johnston too, actually).Joel

Hi Brian,Thanks for a very enlightening series of posts. I'm a little curious though. I know Dever has come a long way since his earlier days, and he does say things like the Biblical siege of Jericho didn't happen. He's also now an agnostic, so his past religious affiliations can't really be held against him. Does he still criticise people as he once did, or is this mostly in the past (or continuing old animosities)? Secondly, the list you mention of people he's attacked are all minimalists (except for Finkelstein). Perhaps he just exercises more rhetoric than others? What do you think of the Copenhagen school?Sorry for the questions, but it's hard getting the big picture just from reading the different sides of the debate.Cheers,
Joel